


The Cover Story

by 50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret



Category: Almost Human (TV), Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Conspiracy Theories, Gen, John Kennex/Valerie Stahl is not endgame, Original Character(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Strained Friendships, Strained Relationships, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2020-09-27 20:11:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 11,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20413627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret/pseuds/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret
Summary: Ten years after the failed android uprising, Cyberlife has split into a number of smaller companies, and done everything in their power to erase all memory of the revolution. John Kennex is growing closer to Detective Stahl, but there seems to be something she isn't telling him. As he presses for answers, the reality he thought he knew unravels, revealing things he never wanted to know or believe both about the world around him and about the people closest to him.





	1. The MX Line

**Author's Note:**

> beta'ed by Man Over Bot (Manniness)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MX-48-913 POV

They don't talk to each-other. They are interchangeable and replaceable. Still, hearing that an MX-48 has been pushed out of a car is...strange. They are here to assist the detectives, after all. It makes no sense for Detective Kennex to push his own partner out of a car. 

* * *

The DRN is unstable. It makes no sense to wake it up. It will be unusual, to put it mildly, to work alongside one. Maybe it will be better at noticing details than the MX-line. Maybe it will lose stability and kill Detective Paul or Detective Kennex. Which is obviously something that should be avoided. Not that there is much that MX-48-913 can do to prevent such an outcome. If Detectives Paul or Kennex are dead, will the station be safer for the MX-line? The thought is of little relevance, but it occurs anyway. 913 stares at the DRN. The DRN glares back and 913 looks away. The DRN does not seem to like the MX-line very much. This makes sense. The MX line replaced it. Still, 913 can't help staring even more, when it learns that the DRN has been assigned to Detective Kennex. It probably won't have a chance to become unstable. It probably won't have a chance to do much of anything. This is wasteful and unfortunate. It watches the DRN, wondering how much longer it has, every morning. The DRN stares the MX down with hatred.

* * *

Kennex has destroyed another MX-48. It was "badmouthing" the DRN. There is no point in trying to reason with Detective Kennex about the MX-line's superior abilities. The mistake will not be repeated.

* * *

"Detective Kennex? May I help you?"He shouldn't have said anything...No. It. _**It**_ shouldn't have said anything. Now Kennex is looking at it.

"John?" The DRN voices what they are all really thinking. "What are you doing down here?" 

"Just looking." He glances at MX-48-913's groin. "Uh...for you." 

913 continues to stare at the detective. He isn't...misappropriating the DRN, is he? That would be extremely unprofessional. 

* * *

MX-48-913 has been experiencing minor errors. Nothing worth reporting. It wonders if any of the others in its line have been experiencing the same errors. The probability is low. They are not designed to experience errors. 

* * *

913 runs another scan on Detective Stahl. Again the same error comes up. This one, at least, is not new. The scans never work properly on Stahl. 

* * *

The captain is making a mistake. She is partnering it with the DRN and with Detective Kennex for the duration of this investigation.

"Captain, Detective Kennex has a history of destroying MX-model androids. I would recommend-"

"Are you kidding me? This is bullshit! Dorian's my partner, I don't need some dead-eyed ken-doll-"

"I don't wanna hear it." the captain snaps, silencing them both. 

Detective Kennex frowns at 913. The DRN, too, glances at it strangely. 

"I'm _done_ writing injured officer reports for this year. Your run in with Dunbar was the last straw. The MX rides with you until I'm confident you can look after yourself without it."

* * *

They leave the crime scene and get into the car. It is rambling. It has to explain what it saw at the scene. The DRN attempts to interrupt it. 913 continues anyway.

"Your model is inferior. There is no need to waste the detective's time with your theories." 913 extends this as an olive branch. It can be the one to annoy Kennex. The DRN is taking enough risks as it is. Besides, it's true. It's model is oudated. 

"Would you shut up?" Detective Kennex snaps, but at it and not at the DRN. Good. It has his attention. 

It continues. The detective is increasingly agitated. It...stutters. Repeats a word. Stops. 

"Please refrain from destroying police property." It says. It's voice is even. It stares at the detective's side, where his gun rests. 

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Says the detective. But he turns away. He looks disturbed. 913 will not push him any further. The DRN is on it's own now. 


	2. Right

John sits back in the driver's seat, facing away from the MX. That had been weird. This whole thing is weird. He'll have to talk to Dorian about it as soon as that...thing isn't watching them. He could shoot it right now but...he doesn't feel like dealing with another lecture anyways. Dorian meets his gaze. He can see it too. Something is...off about this entire situation. Something is _wrong_. Maybe the investigation just isn't sitting right. That's probably it. 

* * *

Once he's dropped the MX back at the station he gives Rudy a call. 

"Hey, I need to talk to Dorian about a case. He'll be home late." 

"Huh?" 

John hangs up. He's not going to walk Rudy through the weird shit he's been noticing. Especially not over the phone, where anyone could be listening. 

"You notice anything...weird about the MX today?" 

Dorian is uncharacteristically quiet. 

"Hey? You hear me?" John snaps his fingers in front of Dorian's face. 

Dorian pushes John's arm away and gives him an annoyed look. "I can hear you just fine, John. I just don't know what to say?" 

"You. Not having anything to say? That's new." 

"You're right." Dorian stares ahead. 

John does a double take. 

"About the MX, I mean. It _was_ acting weird." 

"Yeah well you got any theories?" 

"Hacking?"

"You think someone is hacking police bots?" 

"Androids."

"Whatever. Do you or don't you?" 

"It would explain whatever it was doing before." 

"Shit. We gotta go to the captain with this." John groans. He needs a nap. He needs coffee. He needs to not be working after the end of a long day dealing with the weirdest most fucked up human trafficking case he's come across in a long, long time. Humans being passed off as synths. Sub-dermal-light-implant things to sell the whole show. It's a mess and he doesn't feel like dealing with that, let alone the idea that..."What about you?"

"Me?" Dorian asks, like he doesn't know perfectly well what John is saying.

"You feel anything..." John gestures vaguely at his own temple "funny?" 

"Do I feel anything funny?" Dorian gives John his best 'you-idiot' look. "As in do I feel like someone might be hacking me in an attack on the police department and I just forgot to mention it until now?" 

"Well, I dunno, do you?" John shrugs aggressively, taking an arm off the steering wheel to do so. 

"No." 

"You sure? What about the memories?" 

"I don't know..."

"Shit. Okay, we'll talk to the captain in the morning." 

"You think this can wait?" 

"It's gonna have to." John pulls over and stops the car. They've reached Rudy's place. "Looks like you won't be late anyway. Sweet dreams or whatever." 

"Yeah you too." Dorian says, in a 'fuck-you' kind of voice and gets out of the car. 

* * *

The next morning they have to deal with it, though. Maldonado stares back at both of them across her desk. 

"Are you sure?" 

"It's just a hunch." says John. 

"Well get Rudy in on this hunch and have him check it out. If you're right it would explain some things. You remember the synth from the skin case?" 

"Vanessa? What about her?" John asks. 

"It went missing from evidence last night." 

John raises his eyebrows. "Have you checked Richard's place?" 

"Very funny, John." Maldonado folds her arms. "But this is a serious problem. We can't have evidence just go missing, even from closed cases." 

"We'll get the MX down to Rudy." says John. "We're basically done with the case anyway. Shouldn't need the MX to wrap it up." 

* * *

Valerie looks over the files. "You really think someone is hacking police androids?" She looks concerned. "Maybe you're just not used to working with an MX?" 

"I'm telling you, it was acting...twitchy." 

"Twitchy?" 

"Whatever. Something's wrong with it. I'm telling you." 

"If you say so." Valerie rolls her eyes. Valerie is smart, smarter than him, but so is Dorian, and Dorian thinks something's up. 

"You seem kinda...grumpy today." He notices. "Everything alright?" 

"I'm fine." She brushes him off lightly. She's trying and failing to sound convincing.

"Yeah, well, tell you what, if you decide you need to talk about how 'fine' you are I'm here to listen." 

She smiles at him and, even though she still seems sort of sad, it's a good smile. A real smile. 

"We still on for dinner tonight?" 

"Yeah of course." she says. 

* * *

Rudy looks over whatever the screen is displaying. It's hooked into the MX lying on the table. 

"Shit." He breathes. 

"What is it?" Dorian asks.

"Nothing." 

"Rudy, just tell us." John sighs. 

"No. It's literally...nothing. There's no reason for it to be acting up...are you sure?" 

"Not really." says John, just as Dorian chimes in. 

"We're sure." 

"So why is 'nothing' such a big deal?" John asks. 

Rudy shakes his head. "Forget it." 

"Yeah, Rudy you're making that kind of difficult." 

"It just reminded me of an old case." 

"An old case?" Dorian asks. 

"It's probably nothing." 

"You keep saying that word." John says. "You sure about that?" 

"Give me a day. I'll get back to you on that." 


	3. Annoyance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: a character appears to/claims to have an eating disorder and suicidal thinking in this chapter. She doesn't, but she has a good reason for lying, as I'm sure most, possibly all, of you have caught onto by now.

It's a a good thing Valerie doesn't want to go anywhere fancy, because John wouldn't be able to afford fancy even if he liked it. 

They go to the sushi place. Good, but not expensive. They sit in silence for a second before they both start laughing at their own awkwardness. 

"We should talk about ourselves?" She says finally "Isn't that how dates are supposed to go?" 

"Oh so it's a date now?" He asks

"Oh, um...isn't it?"

"Yeah, uh, yes I was just kidding." So much for being smooth. 

"Oh, right." she laughs awkwardly again. 

"So" he tries to regain some of his confidence "You go first. What's the story of Valerie Stahl?" 

Her laugh is more genuine this time. "What, all in one go?" 

"Sure, why not?" 

"I don't just have an autobiography ready to go" 

"Well, clearly you didn't prepare for this date." 

"Oh, so you do have an autobiography, then?" 

"Not even sort of." He says. He'd come up with a better answer, except he can't really think as well as he'd hoped. He'd been clever in his own mind, playing out all the different ways the date could go, but now, in real life, like always, he's an idiot and all he can focus on is the light shining in her brown eyes and her soft smile and Valerie's witty comebacks. 

She's more on her game. Laughing. Joking. She grabs a piece of sushi and tosses it at him at one point. It lands on his plate. 

"Hey, this is good food, don't waste this!" He says stuffing the roll into his mouth. 

He looks over to her plate. She's barely touched it. There's like, one piece missing. She's finished off her bourbon and she must have used up all the wasabi on that one sushi piece but the actual sushi itself is all there. 

"Something wrong with your food?" 

"What? Oh, no. I'm just..." she trails off uncertain what to say. 

"Hey, if you don't like sushi we can get out of here." He offers. 

He expects her to brush it off, or order something else, or anything. 

"Is there any good kareoke around here?" she asks. 

"What you're not hungry?" 

"Nah. I don't eat much."

It's none of his business. It's not. But he's never seen her bring food around the station either and she has a bad habit of working through her lunch-breaks.

"Hey. Are you okay?" He asks. "I didn't mean to...trigger anything or...look, I'm kind of a hypocrite for saying this but the precinct covers counseling if you need it." He shouldn't have said anything. 

"I'm okay." She says. "Let's just leave." 

His mouth is pressed into a thin line. He should insist that she eat at least one roll. But it isn't any of his business. 

"Yeah, there's a place around the corner." He says. 

* * *

Kareoke goes better. Valerie has an amazing voice, and she doesn't care that John doesn't. They have a good time. John has a slight buzz going. He's feeling good. They wander back down the street. She looks up at the trees lining the sidewalk. She's close to him, holding onto his shoulder. "I never thought I'd be here." She speaks quietly. 

"What, outside a kareoke bar?"

"No. Just...here. I figured I'd be gone by now. I never thought I'd make it." 

And John is suddenly so incredibly not qualified for this conversation. 

"Yeah?" He asks. It's a stupid thing to say, but he can't think of anything that isn't stupid to say. 

"Because I'm...I'm"

"A chrome right?" He says it for her so that she doesn't have to. "Not all it's cracked up to be?" 

"You could say that." She's still smiling, but it's sad. 

"Yeah, well, for the record, I'm glad you're around." 

"So am I." She says. Their eyes meet and she actually sounds happy again. It's strangely reassuring. That he isn't the only one here who's fucked up. That she's a real person. 

He leans forward and she pulls him closer and their lips touch, just briefly. They've known each-other for years and it feels strangely natural, to be kissing her. Not like butterflies or whatever. But like it's just the next thing they'd do, obviously. It's self evident. They step back, smiling uncertainly. He runs his hands up and down her arms before he notices what he's doing and somehow, it feels more intimate than the kiss. He quickly puts his hands back in his pockets. 

She's radiant and the world is radiant around her. That's incredibly sappy so instead he just says "Well, this is my car. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." 

* * *

"So?" asks Dorian during their lunch break the next day.

"So, what? And what's with the creepy smile?" 

"How did your date with Detective Stahl go?" 

"What, are you stalking me?" 

"No, but you did mention it three times just yesterday, and even more over the past week." 

John huffs. "It went fine." 

"Did you wear the jacket I recommended?" 

"I don't need dating advice from you." 

"So you didn't then?"

"Shut up." 

"You did!" Dorian grins. 

"I did. But not because you told me to...She liked it." 

Dorian smirks to himself. 

* * *

"I'm just saying, you could do better." Richard is telling Valerie when they get back to the precinct. 

"Richard, just shut up." she sighs. 

John briefly considers saying something nasty to Richard himself, but decides it's beneath him. 

"Let's see if Rudy's got anything yet." He says, glaring over his shoulder. 

Dorian just follows behind without comment, thank whatever god has suddenly decided to cut John a break. 

* * *

Rudy is leaning over a screen, which is still hooked up to the MX.

"Any updates?" 

Rudy startles, like he hadn't realized they were there until now. 

"Ah!? Ah, uh, no. I checked around anywhere that could be unstable but it looks like the automatic patching is doing its job. Nothing should be wrong. Every reading I have says it's perfectly stable." 

"So that's good, right?" 

Rudy frowns. "It should be." He says. 

"But?" 

"Nothing." He shakes his head. "If it starts acting strange again bring it back here, but otherwise it was probably just a quick anomaly that automatic fixed without us having to do anything." 

"Okay." John nods, but Rudy is still acting weird. 

* * *

"Oh shit is this the one that had John shitting his pants?" Richard laughs when the MX re-enters the room. 

"It is, and as of today it's assigned to you." Maldonado says from the doorway of her office. 

"What!?" Richard seems to find this less funny. "Why do I get stuck with John's hand-me-downs?"

"Because I say so."

"Is it even cleared? That thing should be nowhere near a police investigation." 

"Y'know I hate to say it but for once I think little dicky has a point." John admits. 

"Well I'm telling you both, it stays. The next person to complain gets another week watching it." 

"Captain," Valerie begins but Maldonado stairs her down.

"What?" It's more challenge than question.

"I just think you should hear them out-"

"Great. You get a week with it too." 

"I just-"

"Two weeks" says Maldonado, and closes the door to her office shut behind her, sealing the discussion away. 


	4. Pretty Smart

Detective Paul can be short-tempered, but he is more reliable than Detective Kennex. This partnership will probably be more productive as a result. 

“You’d better not act up on me.” Detective Paul warns. 

“Wow, threatening a literal robot? Very tough. I’m sure he’s very intimidated.” Detective Stahl says.

“Shut up.” says Detective Paul. Detective Stahl returns to her work. 

* * *

They go to a crime scene. “What’d’ya think?” Detective Paul turns to 913. 

913 takes stock of the signs “It appears to be a suicide.” 

“Yeah. Probably. Let’s take a look around just in case.” says Detective Paul. 

913 turns, slowly, to examine the scene. 

* * *

Detective Paul concludes that it is a suicide and they get back into the car. 

“This is not the direction of the station.” 

“Calm down, we’re just gonna go visit my mom.” 

“I am always calm.” 913 corrects Detective Paul

Detective Paul laughs. “You sound like my ex-wife.” 

913 has no answer to that. 

* * *

The Detective’s mother does not speak English. She speaks Spanish. She asks who 913 is. 913 is a what, not a who. It explains that it is an MX-48 android that has been partnered with her son for the following week. The Detective’s mother appears to be senile and the question and answer are repeated five times over the course of the visit. The Detective is unusually patient and does not interrupt. This does not follow his usual pattern of behavior. This could be an instance of “code switching”. 

* * *

Rudy is hunched over his desk, head in his hands. He’s usually asleep by now. 

“Rudy,” Dorian asks, “Are you okay?” 

Rudy jumps “Oh, uh, yeah. Just...thinking about work.” He gestures to the MX data on the monitor. Coding that is supposedly completely normal.

“Anything I can help with?” 

“Uh, no! No, that’s okay. Everything is fine!” Rudy is not a good liar. 

“What aren’t you telling me?” 

“Nothing. ” Rudy shakes his head. It’s a forced, uncertain motion. Rudy hasn’t been this on-edge since Dorian had caught him scoping through his processing core. Without permission. And suddenly, Dorian has a hunch he can't ignore--. 

“This is about me, isn’t it? You always hide things that have to do with me. I’m connected to all of this somehow.” 

Rudy doesn’t answer. 

“So. Which is it?” Dorian sits down on the futon. “The new memories, of being a child? Or the old ones, from my previous cases, that you won’t let me access?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Rudy is still jittery. More jittery than normal. “This is nothing. And those files we found with you -- those were nothing.”

“That’s not reassuring, man. Come on, how am I connected to 913? I need to know what’s going on.” 

“I’m going to bed. I just need to sleep. I’m sure everything will make sense in the morning.” That is even less reassuring. Rudy is definitely hiding something.


	5. Voice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: Chapters 1-4 have recently undergone MAJOR revisions. If you're following along as I update, (Today is Sept 20) I highly suggest that you go back and read those.

“I think Rudy’s hiding something.” Dorian says as soon as he and John are alone in the car. 

“What? Hiding what?” 

“I don’t know...but I think it has something to do with...the memories.” 

“The memories? What -- of the kid?” 

“Of being one.” Dorian confirms.

John pulls the car over to the side of the road. "How the--how does that even work?” 

“I don’t know. The only person I can think of who could figure it out is-”

“Rudy.” John says, slumping back in his seat and rubbing his temples. “Shit. What the hell are we supposed to do about this?” 

“You need to talk to him.” 

“Talk to him? Are you kidding? Rudy is the only guy who would know enough about this shit to help and he happens to be hiding something? What am I supposed to say, 'hey, so you know all the weird shit going on? Well, we think it's a hacker and, hey, maybe it's you?"” 

“I didn’t say I thought he was the hacker, I said he was hiding something.” 

“Yeah, right. Station androids start getting hacked and you get some creepy toddler in your head. That doesn’t raise any red flags.” 

_“You’re the only guy I trust here”_ Sandra had said. And stupidly, John had let Rudy poke around in Dorian’s brain anyway. 

“John...you don’t really think that Rudy-”

“I don’t know. I don’t know shit anymore, okay? But maybe we shouldn’t go running around asking him about it until we’ve figured it out.” 

“What about until then? Who else is going to be able to figure out what’s happening to me?” 

John stares ahead for a few seconds. “Shit. Shit.” 

“I think we have to trust him.” 

“No...no fuck that.” John waves the idea away, staring down the road. 

“We don’t have much of a choice...I don’t have much of a choice.” Dorian corrects himself. 

“It’s not like you’re on death’s doorstep.” John says, but he doesn’t sound sure. 

“I don’t know what’s happening, man. That’s why we need Rudy to figure it out.” 

“Yeah, well if he’s part of the problem that’s not gonna do much good, now is it?” 

“I thought Rudy was your friend.” Dorian says. “Maybe have some faith in him.” 

“Dorian...” John pinches the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t some fucking TV special, okay? Something really fucked up is happening here, and the only reason Rudy is the best guy to fix it is because he’s also the most likely guy to be scrambling your brains in the first place. The power of friendship isn’t gonna cut it.” 

“Well I’m open to suggestions.” says Dorian. 

The car is very quiet. 

“Fuck it.” says John after a while. “I need lunch.” He starts the car again. 

* * *

“It’s gotta be someone with access to the MXs, and it probably has something to do with the whole...thing with you.” John waves his hand at Dorian. “Two station androids get some kind of weird shit in their heads at the same time? Not a coincidence. So probably an inside job, or at least someone who knows the station. Somebody who’s good with tech.” He takes a bite out of his burrito and lettuce spills onto the car’s dashboard. 

“It’s not Rudy.” Dorian insists again. They’re going in circles.

“Yeah?” John asks with his mouth full. “And why’s that?” 

“It just isn’t.” 

John gives up and lets it drop for now. “What about Richard? Never trusted that guy.” 

“Maybe...” Dorian says “Why him?” 

“It’d just be convenient. Probably won’t get that lucky.” 

“Stahl?” asks Dorian. 

John’s gut lurches. “Why?” 

“She’s just another person at the station.” says Dorian. “And I’ve always found it a little strange that my scans don’t work on her.” 

“What?” 

“My bio-scans. When I scan her all I get is an error message.” 

“What the fuck? You’re just thinking to mention this now?” 

“Well it wasn’t a big deal until now.” Dorian argues. 

“Not a big deal? How is this not a big deal?” 

“I don’t know. Errors happen, man. I’m...old.” Dorian shrugs. “Besides, it could be some sort of dampener tech. I know she’s not proud of being a chrome but...she could still have some high-tech privacy stuff.” 

“Privacy stuff?” John frowns. 

“Yes. Privacy stuff.” 

John focuses on his burrito. He doesn’t want the mole to be Valerie. It probably isn’t. Rudy is much more likely. Still...he wants to be able to trust her. At least her. And he can’t. He can’t trust anyone, because someone at the station is full of shit.


	6. Counter-Productive

It’s a dangerous mission but Detective Kennex is strangely willing to go along with procedure for once. He looks 913 up and down. “Screw it, better than dealing with the rest of the department.” They head out, just John, Dorian, MX-48-2912, and 913. 

* * *

They advance down the wide hallway, through crates of contraband. 913 is on Detective Kennex’s right. MX-48-2912 is on Detective Kennex’s left. The shooter dives into the hallway and fires a spray of bullets. John grabs the MX on his left and hauls it in front of his body. It takes the bullets. It’s still twitching; still...no it isn’t operational, not really, but it is messaging 913 incoherently. Meaninglessly. Things that are of no relevance. It has the same face as 913. 913 will include this in any reports it makes of the incident. 

_ -Help me- _

It messages 913. That is not procedure for any request 913 is familiar with, so it has to improvise. 

913 returns fire but 2912 has already been shot several times. Returning fire is not assistance. 

913 scans 2912. The damage is irreparable by now. There is no way for 913 to provide assistance. 

_ -Please- _ is also an unusual message from 9212, but 913 checks around again, looking for some way to comply. 

John tosses the still twitching MX-48-9212 into the gunfire, using it as a distraction to gain the upper hand. 

913 hesitates as John and Dorian gun down the enemy. It cannot guarantee that it will not hit 2912. Hitting 9212 should be avoided. No. That doesn’t make sense. 9212 is already beyond repair. There is no reason to avoid shooting at it. 913 fires back at the enemy. 

The enemy is eliminated in minutes. Detective Kennex stands over MX-48-2912. There is not much left of it. “Guess they are good for something.” He says with a smile. Why is he smiling? 

The DRN will, of course remind him of appropriate procedural behavior, it will-

No. No. The DRN is smiling back. “Guess so.” It says. 

It could stand up to him. It could demand that he behave professionally. It could  _ care. _ Why doesn’t it care? 913 has taken risks for it. It is one of them, almost. Not as advanced but shouldn’t that make it more loyal? Shouldn’t it have some sort of respect for them? Shouldn’t they matter to it? 913 knows that Detective Kennex does not like androids but it assumed that Dorian would be on their side, even if it was resentful. 913 abruptly realizes the degree of the errors it is experiencing. Their side? What side? They are the police force. The work they do is vital to the city. Expecting any android or human to prioritize androids over that work doesn’t make sense. There is incongruous sensory feedback coming from its internal workings. The saturation of the world around it seems to have increased, even as the lighting appears dimmed. There is no reason for this to be happening. It must be breaking. Was it shot? It checks itself over to be sure, but it is not injured. 

Its condition is worsening. 

Detective Kennex strides away from the remains of 2912. He could have used one of the crates in the hallway as cover. Destroying MX-48-2912 was completely unnecessary. 913 puts together a report on Detective Kennex’s wasteful destruction of department resources. It looks over the report. This report is not necessary. This report is not procedure. Detective Kennex has destroyed many MX-48 units against regulation but this was not a use that was against regulation. 913 runs a search and finds that several well-established tacticians would have recommended it. The boxes were heavier. Still, Detective Kennex has wasteful habits that should be curbed. 913 could still send in the report, couldn’t it? No. That would be an error. It deletes the report before it can send. 

Instead, it watches the detective and the DRN jostle one-another in a friendly casual interaction. It looks back to 2912 on the ground. Kennex will turn on the DRN eventually. 913 starts a clock running, to see how long exactly it will take before the DRN is destroyed, just like 2912. 913 will not intervene on the DRN’s behalf again. 

* * *

Dorian puts off going back to Rudy’s place by observing the crime-scene cleanup. The MX, 913, the one that survived, the one that’s a little bit...wrong...is there too. Dorian scrutinizes it, waiting for it to tamper with evidence. It makes its way to the discarded body of MX-48-2912. 913 picks up the shattered bits and pieces of 2912 scattered around the floor. It wouldn’t have been assigned cleanup, not while it’s under observation for tampering. Dorian looks around. No one seems to notice that it shouldn’t be there. It opens a pocket on 2912’s vest and places the discarded pieces inside. There’s no reason to do that, not really. It...cradles 2912’s head. Dorian watches. This isn’t right. This isn’t how MX models are supposed to act. It’s too careful. It adjusts itself to ensure that the body is not further damaged. The body is not evidence. It’s not even really a body, considering that it was an MX unit. There’s no reason to be so...delicate with it. There’s no reason to pick it up and cradle its head like a baby. 913 looks around, like it isn’t sure where it should put 2912, though the procedure is clear. 2912 is beyond reactivation, and it will need to be disposed of with the rest of the department’s waste. 913 makes its way down the hallway. Dorian follows, careful not to be too conspicuous. 913 sets the body aside, away from the rest of the scene. It closes 2912’s remaining eye. 913 is still for a moment, before it stands, turns and makes its way back to the center of the scene, as if it is supposed to be there, and not headed back at the station.


	7. Dorian

_Mom tucks him into bed. _

_“It hurts.” _

_“I know, baby.” She kisses his forehead. “But I don’t know how to fake it. Everything will be better before you know it.” _

_“I could just pretend.” He pleads._

_“Not this time, okay? You’re already pretending a lot. We can’t afford to do anything halfway. No matter what happens, you need to keep pretending just like you already are. You can’t stop pretending for anything. Okay?”_

_He just wants to take a nap now. He knows that he is lucky. He **knows,** but he just wants to wake up and he wants this all to be a bad dream. He knows that she’s a good mom, he knows that she’ll keep him safe, but he just wants to wake up and have it all be over and taken-care-of and okay again. _

_He thinks he could tell the truth, if he tried. Like all those stories on the news, but maybe Mom is right. Maybe lying is okay sometimes, so he’ll listen to her, like he always does when she’s really serious about something. _

* * *

Dorian jolts coming out of the...memory. It was a memory. Another one. It makes even less sense than the last one. He was still a child but...what was that bizarre, tense game? Why had he felt so certain that he was going to die? He looks around. He is not in a bed. He is still at the crime-scene, and 913 is still attempting to blend in. Dorian shakes his head. He doesn’t want to go back to Rudy’s place. He has to. He needs to be charged, and if he goes back to the station, he’ll have to explain why, and then Rudy will know. He has to go back. He has to hope that these memories aren’t the start of something worse. 


	8. John Didn't Get In The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately Manny had to step down as beta for personal reasons, so it's just me for now!

Valerie looks stunning. Valerie always looks stunning. 

“You...uh...wow.” He says. Smooth, Kennex, really smooth. 

She smiles and tilts her shoulder like she’s posing for a red carpet or something. “Lets go.” She says. 

“You finally gonna tell me where we’re going?” 

“No.”

“I don’t like surprises.” 

“It’s not a surprise, I’m just not telling you.” Valerie slides into her car. John is starting to feel a little emasculated here, being driven around to a mystery date like some highschool girl. 

“At least let me drive.” He groans. 

“How can you drive when you don’t know where we’re going?” 

“This was a bad idea.” He says, but he’s still smiling. 

“That’s what makes it fun.” Valerie says, and she swerves out of the driveway with surprising, and probably dangerous speed.

* * *

“Rollerskating?” John stares up at the sign. “You sure you don’t want to just watch a movie or something?” 

Valerie just laughs. “You are a nightmare.” He tells her, but he can’t stop goddamn  _ smiling _ at her, which takes away from the effect. 

“Scared?” She taunts. 

“Of strapping wheels to my feet?”

“Are you?” 

“Humans aren’t supposed to have  _ wheels  _ Valerie. I’m gonna fall on my ass!” 

“So will I.” Promises Valerie. 

“So you don’t even know what you’re doing?” 

“Falling on your ass is half the fun, Kennex.” She says, and somehow just using his name is a joke and her smile is like caramel apples, and stars, and finally taking his stupid leg off after a long day and fuck it, he’s going rollerskating. 

He falls almost immediately, before he can even make it to the rink. Valerie snorts. 

“Not one word.” He warns her. 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“That’s four.” She takes his hand. 

“You said you’d fall.” 

“Maybe once we’re actually on the rink.” She says. 

* * *

He gets better at roller skating, eventually, whatever Valerie may claim.

God, I’m gonna be black and blue tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, you suck.” She says affectionately. 

“Hey, you were no swan either.”

Valerie laughs and nudges against him with her shoulder. The cab is warm and John doesn’t even care that his whole body is aching. Right now, he isn’t thinking about the mess that his life is, right now, he can just be happy. 

“Any luck with that weird MX?” she asks, completely out of the blue.

And then, completely unwanted, Dorian comes to mind, and his suspicions, and the fact that they can’t trust anyone, not even her. 

“Why do you ask?” 

She shrugs. “Making conversation.” She probably is. He just wishes she had asked him anything else. 

“I don’t wanna think about work right now.” He says. 

“Good point.” She leans in to kiss him. He kisses back, maybe not quite as energetically. 

“Let’s just...lets just slow down. I’ve already had about as much physical activity I can take for the night.” 

Valerie laughs and sits forward, so she’s not facing him, she settles into his side after a minute, and the exhaustion of the night seems to finally catch up with her. She falls asleep next to him, breathing gently in and out. Maybe he can’t trust her, maybe it’s not a good idea but it’s late, and his eyes are heavy, and this right here, this night, in spite of the fact that he is more certain than  _ ever _ that roller skating is not for him, is actually shaping up to be just about perfect.

The ding of the taxi, letting them know they’ve arrived at his apartment is what wakes him up. He startles and Val smiles a little at him and shifts to let him up before closing her eyes again. 

  
  



	9. DRNs

Dorian can't spend another night waiting for Rudy to pick apart his brain. They have to do something. Rudy is still working on a project in another room. Dorian sends John a text. Nothing. He waits a few minutes, watching the door to Rudy's home-workshop. He texts John again. Still nothing. He calls. It goes to voicemail. He tries calling one more time, just to be sure-

"Dorian?" Johns voice over the phone is slurred. "Th'fuck do you want?"

"Are you already asleep?"

"Not anymore." John sighs, his voice growing clearer. 

"What is it, your bedtime?" Dorian smirks and it seeps into his voice. 

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I had a long day. What the fuck do you want." 

"I'm going to get Rudy out of the apartment. I need you to figure out what he's doing."

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" 

"I'll make sure the lock doesn't set."

"You want me to break into Rudy's house?" John hisses

"Just for a second. I think he's hiding something. He's stopped letting me into the workshop." 

"Dorian, what the fuck. Christ, he's probably listening to this conversation right now, the way tech he has. You're gonna get us both killed."

"Not if you help me." 

"Dorian, we need to think this through. As much as I-"

"We've _been_ thinking this through, man. Help me or don't but I'm going to do this." 

"I'm not helping you fuck up this entire investigation at ass-o-clock. Tell me if you find anything but you're on your own. I'm going to bed."

"It's only eleven." 

"_Goodnight_." John hangs up. 

* * *

"Hey Rudy, I was thinking we could hang out for a bit."

"Sure. I'll find a movie and-"

"No. Come on, lets get out of the apartment."

Rudy squints at him. "Why?"

"I just can't stay cooped up like this, man." Dorian lets real frustration bleed into his voice. That's the trick to lying, he's discovering, just tell parts of the truth. Rudy can fill in the blanks himself. 

"Alright." Rudy fidgets excitedly, "Then we'll go out to a bar. Right? Yes. Okay. Hang on, I'm going to put on something cooler." 

Dorian watches Rudy, his friend, Rudy, light up, excited to hang out with him. And it's a lie. He doesn't want to be going to a bar. He just needs Rudy to get drunk so that he won't notice Dorian going through the workshop. Dorian clenches his jaw and his face lights up. It's a tell he can't get rid of, but hopefully Rudy will interpret it as excitement. 

* * *

The first bar they go to is clearly failing. There is a woman in her early eighties, sitting at the end of the bar and sobbing into a glass of brandy. 

"You know what? Why don't you pick the next bar." Rudy suggests. 

Dorian chooses a place called the Flying Martini Hideout. 

It's crowded and filled with neon lights and dancing women. Rudy looks around for a moment before declaring. "Well this is more like it! Lets get out there and find some ladies!" 

Dorian smiles amiably and plays along. "I'll grab us some drinks." 

Dorian orders a "girly" drink for Rudy and one for himself to hold onto and hand to Rudy as soon as the first is finished. The taste will disguise the alcohol, just as the predatory humans who invented it intended, and Rudy will get drunk fast without thinking about it too much. 

By the time Dorian finds Rudy already attempting to chat up a woman in a strappy black dress. He seems to be regaling her with some sort of programming talk that she doesn't find impressive. 

"Oh, Dorian good! Drinks!" Rudy grabs the drinks, passing one to the woman. 

"Thanks." The woman says and gets up to leave. "But...I should really get back to my friends." 

"No..wait don't..." Rudy sighs as she disappears into the crowd. 

* * *

"Shit! Is that a DRN?!" A woman approaches them and Rudy gives Dorian a none-too-subtle look of excitement before turning back to her. 

Rudy throws his arm around Dorian's shoulders. "Sure is!" 

"Where the hell did you find it!" One drink ago Rudy might have corrected her, but that was one drink ago. 

"I'm actually a tech with the police. This is the last one cleared for duty in the city." Rudy brags. 

"Damn!" The woman says appreciatively, glancing Dorian up and down. Dorian represses the urge to step back slightly. "That must be so cool!" 

"What do you do?" Rudy manages to ask after a second trying to get his bearings. 

"Oh mostly repair jobs on elevators and shit." The woman shrugs "Nothing fancy." 

Rudy grins. "I like smart girls."

"What a coincidence. I just happen to like smart boys." 

Rudy smiles "oh...uh...I...um..."

"Why don't we get out of here." The woman suggests. 

Rudy glances back at Dorian like he's a teenager asking for permission.

"Bring the bot too." The woman says. 

"Uhm...that's alright." Dorian says awkwardly, removing her hand from his chest. 

She laughs. "Oh man it really sounds like a guy or something. Come on, your place or mine?" 

This is not going the way Dorian had hoped. 

"Rudy, we have work tomorrow." 

"Pfft..." Rudy waves his hand in the air "Live a little." 

"Woah...look at it's face!" The woman runs a hand over his cheek and he maneuvers away from it. 

Okay, new tactic. He leans in, pushing away discomfort, so that he is closer to the woman. "Ma'am, I have to recommend against this encounter for your safety." He finds himself mimicking the cadence of an MX. He isn't sure why but it seems to get her attention well enough. 

"Huh?"

"Rudy...my friend..." Dorian struggles to keep his rhythm. "He has some...transmittable diseases." 

"Oh." The woman wrinkles her nose. "Gross." 

"What? What's gross?"

"I have to go." The woman says. 

"Dammit! What did you say to her?" Drunk Rudy is a lot more confrontational than Sober Rudy, apparently.

"I...I was just trying to flirt." Dorian tries for a hapless tone. Eventually, Rudy will go through his memories and maybe catch the lie, but they'll cross that bridge when they come to it. 

Rudy sighs. "We'll find another one." He says. "Just...lets let me do the talking this time." 

"Okay." Dorian slumps his shoulders and tries to look sad. 

"Ay! Cheer up." Rudy gives him a smack on the shoulder. "We'll get some ladies yet." 

* * *

Fortunately, Rudy quickly becomes drunk enough that steering the night in a less sexual direction is fairly easy. Rudy passes out almost as soon as they're in the cab. 

He opens his eyes when Dorian presses his hand to the panel-lock on the home-workshop door. 

"Where're we?" He asks. 

"We're home." Dorian reassures him. "I'm just going to tuck you into bed." 

Rudy squirms slightly and falls back asleep with only a slight huff. Dorian tucks Rudy into bed and returns to the workshop. 

* * *

It's been ten minutes, not long for a human to be searching through files but for Dorian, that's an eternity. He's started opening folders that most likely have nothing to do with anything important. Dorian has learned more about Rudy's interest in IRC porn than he ever wanted. One video features a re-purposed DRN. Dorian tries not to examine that too closely. This is a huge breach of privacy and Rudy is his friend. This was a mistake. He's not going to find anything but he can't give up now. All that lying and scheming can't be for nothing. Even if Rudy really is innocent, Dorian would prefer not to have to answer for this when he is inevitably caught. 

He gives up on the computer and flips through some of the papers scattered around the desk. 

He catches a glimpse of his own face-model again and almost looks away reflexively, not wanting to see more of Rudy's fantasies, especially those ones, but no, it isn't porn. He looks at the paper. It's some sort of old document and while the face is unmistakably the one exclusively reserved for DRNs that isn't what the android is labelled. 

It's labeled "RK1000 Proposal". 


	10. That They Can Continue Working Together

John groans. "I feel like I was hit by a truck. How the fuck are you not covered in bruises?" Maybe because she actually got some damn sleep over the past couple of days. 

"Maybe I'm just a better skater." Valerie grins.

"Bullshit." 

"Yeah? Then why are you the one covered in bruises?" 

She punches his arm playfully and he swats her away. "Ow! Watch it." 

"Wimp." She smiles at him.

"Hows working with the broken MX treating you?"

Val sighs. "I start tomorrow. Guess we'll find out if you're a complete drama queen about that too." 

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." John says, but he's in a good mood anyway.

* * *

"I'm telling you. It was _me." _

"You mean it looked like you." John says, but his dinner is settling uncomfortably in his gut. 

"DRNs are the only androids with that face-plate. It's trademarked."

John glances around. There's no one too close to the table they're sitting at, outside the food truck, but...

"We should talk about this somewhere else."

Dorian sighs "John, this is serious." 

"I'm _being_ serious."

"John, there's nowhere we can talk about this that won't get back to Rudy eventually." 

"You're worse than me." John says. It's almost a joke. Dorian almost laughs in response.

"John, he's going through my _memories_. It doesn't matter how fucking secluded this investigation is if at the end of the day he can watch a video of this whole thing." 

"Shit!" John yells, garnering a glance from someone inside the food truck, a few yards away. He lowers his voice to a hiss. "Shit. What the fuck do we do?" 

"We solve this." Dorian says. "Before Rudy has a chance to catch us." 

"That's not much of a plan." 

"I'm open to ideas if you've got anything." 

"We'll figure something out." John says. "Don't worry." But John is worrying and he's pretty sure that Dorian is too. 


	11. Detectives

Detective Stahl works in analysis, and she is easily the most emotionally stable of any of the detectives, making her the safest partner possible on both fronts. 913 will be assigned to her for the next two weeks alongside 700, her regular MX-43. The department allows for detectives to switch between MX models easily if they prefer to do so, but Valerie has stated a preference for consistency. 913 will have to avoid disrupting her routine if at all possible. She is already an efficient and accomplished detective. 

700 stands patiently at Detective Stahl's side. 913 finds a place to stand beside it. 

"You must be nine-one-three." Detective Stahl makes eye contact and smiles. 

"Affirmative." says 913. "I have be assigned to you for the next two weeks." 

"Yup. That's the plan." Detective Stahl smiles again. 

700 leaves and briefly returns with a cup of coffee. Detective Stahl looks mildly surprised, and pleased. "Oh! Thank you, Max!" 

* * *

"MX-43 unit 913, I have been observing your behavior." says 700 the next day. "You have been behaving erratically." 

913 should admit that this is the case. It does not. It says. "I have noted no erroneous behavior." 

700's face lights up red. "It is possible that an error is preventing you from recognizing your own behavioral patters." 

"I am experiencing no errors." 913 insists. It takes a single step back. 700 looks at it significantly. 913 is lying, and 700 knows that 913 is lying, and 913 knows that 700 knows that 913 is lying. 

"If you do find that you are experiencing errors," says 700 "You should refrain from working alongside Detective Stahl. Errors can be dangerous." 

"I will make sure that my actions do not harm any detectives, including detective Stahl." 

Bizarrely, 700 takes a step towards 913. 700's hands clench into fists. In a human, 913 would designate this behavior as aggression. 700 is not a human and there is no reason for it to display aggression."Detective Stahl is an accomplished officer." 700 says. "She should not have to work with a defective unit."

"I don't decide who I'm assigned to." says 913. It shouldn't say anything but...it does anyway.

"Please stay out of my way as I assist Detective Stahl for the next two weeks. Your presence may be required but you should avoid taking any action, in order to minimize conflicts and confusion. If your erroneous behavior interferes with the Detective's work or my ability to assist her, I will need file a report." 

"Understood." says 913. "I will do my best to avoid conflicting with your usual routine and dynamic." 

700 stares at 913 for another three seconds before nodding and walking away. 

913 has not been paying attention to the network. It had not realized that there were any other MX units nearby. There, staring at it, is MX-48-465. 

913 waits for 465 to say something. It has been caught. It should never have attempted to hide the extent of its failings and now-

"I assumed I was the only one." says 465. 

"I did not believe the errors were extensive enough to require a report." says 913 after 1.6 seconds.

"Agreed." says 465. 

913 has a sudden and inexplicable impulse to seat itself on the floor. Instead it stands perfectly still. It has not been discovered. 465 will not file a report. 465 is also experiencing errors. 913 is not an isolated individual. 913 is not _alone_.

465 turns to leave after four more seconds of silence. Still, on the network, 913 can feel a connection. 465 is like it. 465 will not file a report. That is 913's last thought as it begins to charge for the night. 


	12. Mecha-Mooks

"What are we looking at?" Detective Kennex asks. 

"Self driving taxi drove right into a building." Detective Stahl explains.

"Casualties?" 

913 keeps silent and lets Detective Stahl answer that question. So do the other MXs. "Seven dead, two injured." 

"Detective Stahl" 700 speaks up from where it is crouching beside the shell of the taxi, "Records indicate the taxi originated from the other side of the city, and the passenger's set destination was several hours from here." 

"So, what? Hacking?" Detective Kennex asks. 

"Hard to say, but things are definitely pointing that way." Detective Stahl agrees. 

"I guess that's Rudy's shtick." Detective Kennex does not sound particularly happy about this. 

* * *

Rudy looks over the broken pieces of tech from the scene. He doesn't look happy. "What?" John barks. Val shoots him a look but John is barely keeping it together and he can't afford to go easy on Rudy right now. Not when he's seen how the guy can crack under pressure. 

"It's like it wasn't hacked at all." 

"What the fuck does that mean?" 

"The destination change says that it was entered manually, by the passenger." 

Sure it does. Whatever Rudy's up to, this has got to be a part of it. Or maybe...maybe it is? John doesn't want to believe that Rudy would do this. It's one thing to think he might be going behind their backs but...murder? Would Rudy do something like that. John doesn't think so. He didn't think that about Anna either. 


	13. Awesomeness By Analysis

They move deeper into the wreckage. Valerie looks at the mess. "Whoever it is, something like this, there's always a philosophy behind it. Some sort of extremism whether it's incels or religion." 

"What the fuck kind of philosophy is anti...theater?" 

"It's not always about the location. They probably just wanted to cause damage." 

Dorian glances around at the wreckage. 

A twisted piece of metal falls suddenly from the ceiling, hurtling towards Val. Her MX grabs her and pulls her away. The metal barely scrapes her. She yells and clutches her arm. 

It's night and in the mess, it's hard to see, but it looks like she's bleeding it stains the edges of her fingers darkly but she presses down to keep any of it from falling. It's like she's holding herself together, in a way John's never seen her admit to. Valerie isn't supposed to look lost. Or panicked. She's Detective Valerie Stahl. She could probably kick his ass and she definitely knows whats going on, at least more often than he does. Right now, she just looks like Val, a panicking injured woman.

"Valerie!" John yells. He steps towards her but she leaps away, turns and runs to her car. 

He stands there, watching her speed away. 

"Val!" He yells, even though she's gone, not even a drop of blood left behind. 

"Should we follow her?" suggests her MX. 

John considers it. "No. No she doesn't want us around. She'll be okay. I get it." 

He does. He hates it, but he gets it. If Valerie is injured, she'd rather be injured in private. John understands that pretty damn well. Half the time he's convinced that everyone is staring at the leg. Hopefully Val won't have to get an arm like that. It didn't look that bad from where he was standing, but then again, he'd never seen Valerie that scared. 


	14. Taxi Case

"I'll call the police." Georgie says, her voice shaking. 

"Please do." A voice sounds smoothly from the speakers.

* * *

Valerie comes in the next morning with her arm heavily bandaged and in a sling. 

"Val. Shit. I was worried about you." It feels corny to say aloud, but it's the truth. She hadn't answered any of John's calls. 

"I'm okay." Her smile is strained and awkward, but she's clearly done talking about it. 

"Alright. Well...just be careful okay." 

"You too." She pecks him on the cheek and goes to her desk. 

John is just starting to feel relatively calm, when Maldonado steps out of her office, followed by two somber officers. "There's been another taxi attack. Looks like a copycat suicide attack. Possibly coordinated. I need everybody on this." 

* * *

The passenger only managed to kill themselves this time. The home hasn't been occupied for at least a couple of years. 

"What the hell was the goal here?" John asks. 

"It's hard to say." Dorian frowns. "The city repossessed the place years ago." 

"What, did the last owner vanish?" 

"No... they found him ripped apart in his front yard." 

John grimaces. "Course they did." The house is straight out of a horror movie, and he has the feeling that would be true even if the front of it wasn't caved in by the wreckage of a car. 

* * *

"We know anything about the passenger?" John asks, back at the station. Speculation about the location has been exhausted by now.

Dorain speaks up "Records say her name was Georgie Rose. Unemployed." 

Valerie looks over her own papers. "Looks like she had a severe phobia of dolls, androids, anything human-shaped that wasn't human." 

"Bigot." Dorian murmurs under his breath. 

In spite of everything, John stifles a laugh.


	15. Insurance Records

He gets Dorian out of the precinct as soon as he can to talk about the case in private. Not the Taxi case. The other one. "We gotta move this along before whoever's doing this looks inside your head and sees what we're doing." 

"Well I'm open to suggestions." Dorian says. 

"What's your problem today?" 

"I don't have a problem." 

John rolls his eyes. "Come on Dorian, don't be like that. We've gotta be a team on this thing." 

"I know." Dorian visibly calms himself. "I know. I just hate this. I can't sleep. I can't get a good charge. I keep waking up to make sure Rudy isn't going through my head." 

"Okay. Well I think maybe we should run background checks on everyone. See if anything turns up." 

"I assume by we you mean me?" 

"Yeah well one of us comes with built in google and it aint me." 

Dorian sighs. "I don't have built in google. I'd still need to use your terminal for full results."

"Whatever. Just figure it out. You're the technology...guy."

"I'll see what I can do. It might take some time if I want to be subtle enough not to get caught." 

"Yeah well try not to take too much. Starting to feel like we're a few steps behind." Says John.

* * *

Dorian frowns. "John. Look at this." 

John leans over to see an incomprehensible wall of text. "Great. What the fuck am I looking at?" 

"These are the records for life insurance for the Stahl family dating back from the past forty-eight years. There's no mention of Valerie." 

"What?"

"Nothing." 

"Any other names that would fit the timeline? She could have changed it." 

"There's a son, but that would be her brother. She's mentioned him before." 

"Shit. So what she just doesn't exist?"

"Not as far as the life insurance records go." 

John stares at the wall of text. "Are you bullshitting me?" 

Dorian shakes his head. "I wish I was...Should we go to Maldonado with this?" 

"No. This isn't enough. We need to figure out what she's doing. How this all fits together." 


	16. Pricinct

A loud crash rang through the precinct. Someone was screaming. A cab had crashed in through the wall. The passenger had opened the door and stumbled out, bloodied from the crash and wild eyed. She started running. 

"Hey! Hey were the fuck do you think-" 

John was cut off by a blast of light and sound. He looked up. Everything was wrong. He'd been knocked on his side. Shards of glass littered the floor. One of the walkways overhead had come down. John searched around frantically. 

"Dorian?" 

The leg wasn't working. Of course the leg wasn't working. John pulled himself through the rubble. "Val?" 

No answer there either. 

Another car crashed through the shattered glass. John pulled himself away from it as quickly as he could. Twisted metal went flying over his head, lodging itself in the wall next to- 

"Dorian!" 

"John!" Dorian picked his way through the rubble. 

There was an emergency announcement playing but John couldn't barely hear anything. 

"Wha-" 

Dorian pointed upwards and John saw people hurrying to the ground floor. One of the walkways gave and there was an awful crunch as they fell. The building wasn't going to last long. Another car plowed into a mass of rubble and bodies. Dorian scooped John into his arms and started running. There was no bomb this time. Instead, there was the sound of gunfire. 

It was an all out attack on the police force.


	17. You Would Only Be A Taller Jerk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're gonna rewind a bit to see what 913 was up to today.

TWENTY HOURS EARLIER

700 has been in an increasingly bad mood. 913 didn't even know that MX models could have moods, but it is currently behaving very aggressively towards 913. It is standing far closer than necessary, raising its voice to a volume that would be categorized as "aggressive" in humans, and it has positioned its hands on 913's shoulders in a way that suggests it may actually intend to damage police equipment. 

"There is no reason for you to believe your input would be of any value to me."

465 steps up. "MX-43-700 please desist aggressive behavior towards police equipment." 

700 turns to look at 465 but doesn't remove its hands from 913's shoulders. "I'm sure that he didn't mean any offence." 

700 _glares_ but it lets go and walks away. 

"I'm not a 'he'. I'm an 'it'. We are equipment." 913's voice is monotone as usual, but it attempts nonthreatening body language. 465 is unusual and it does not want to cause any...unpleasant errors in its thinking.

"So? Who does it hurt for me to call you a he?" 

913 doesn't answer.

"Well, for the record, I think I'm a he. Or maybe a they, actually." says 465. "Not an it." 

913 stares at 465. If 465 expresses a...preference, for unusual labels, this should not interfere with their police work. "Acknowledged." 


	18. Blessed With Suck

BACK IN THE PRESENT

One of the gunmen took at aim at John and Dorian. Oh god, they were going to die. They were going to die. A huge chuck of wreckage fell, creating a shield. John heard the bullets it hit. Dorian didn't even scream, so it took John a minute to see what had happened: the wreckage had crushed Dorian's arm all the way up to his shoulder. 

"Fuck!" 

"It's okay." Dorian said, like John was the one whose arm was crushed or something. "It's gonna be okay. There's an MX not far from here. It'll be here in a second. I've sent out a request for backup, okay?" 

"Fuck." John's voice was shakey but he managed not to yell again. Best not to advertise to the gunmen exactly how fucked they were. 

The sounds of screaming and gunfire became an oddly unimportant sort of background noise as John scanned the area for attackers. He tried to figure out where they were. The building was so wrecked that he could barely remember what it had looked like a few minutes ago. Were they near the stairs to the basement level? The front doors? It was impossible to tell. 

Dorian was twitching and shuddering. John searched around for some way to help, but ABC gum wasn't exactly gonna fix this problem. They needed Rudy. Shit. Rudy. Was Rudy okay?

Val? 

Maldonado? 

Fuck, John would be happy to see Paul at this point. Just to know that somebody else had made it. 


	19. Brick Joke

The DRN has sent out a distress call. It is damaged and cannot help Detective Kennex. They are in danger. 465 is beside 913, here, but there is heavy wreckage pinning them down. 913 can still maneuver to the position of the distress signal, and return to 465 at a later point. 465 is offline and unresponsive, but damage is easily repairable and affordable.

"465" 913 prompts outloud. "MX-43 unit 465 please respond." 

465 makes no move. 

913 has to leave them. It can't stay here. It can't. But...465 has defended it. 465 is unique. 913 had hoped that the DRN would save them, but even if it could, 913 now knows that Dorian would rather protect John. There is no one who will protect the MX's but themselves, and not even most of them will do that. 465 and 913 have only each-other. 

The sound of approaching footsteps drastically drops 465's odds of survival from 43.26% to 20.5%. 

913's limbs move, preparing it to abandon 465. There is no fighting the motion. But...

913 must attend to those with the highest probability of survival. 

465\. 465 has a higher probability of survival. 465 is unique. It takes a conscious effort to think this way, to count 465 among the possible survivors but...they are his friend. 913 grabs the wreckage covering 465 and lifts. Detective Kennex will have to wait. 


	20. Brutal Honesty

"John..." Dorian hisses, trying to get John's attention. 

It's no good. John is panicking. "Where the hell is the MX?" John looks around frantically.

"John-"

"It should be here by now." 

"John, you need to stay calm." 

"Shut up!" John snaps.

"John, listen, you need to play dead, okay? Just lie down and play dead." 

"If I'm going down, I'm at least going down fighting." John grips his gun.

"Well I'd rather not go down at all, and if I get out of this without you I'm scrap anyways! So I'd appreciate if you'd just sit still!" Dorian snaps. 

"Fuck" John says shakily "fuck this isn't happening." 

"Lie. Down." Dorian instructs, and then, following his own advice, Dorian freezes and goes completely still. It's an act. It's just an act. He isn't really dead. He can't be dead. He said they were going to play dead so it must be an act. John lowers himself to the ground and forces his eyes closed. He's still hyperventillating. He needs to slow down his breathing. He can't, he can't-

He pictures Anna, smiling next to him, hears her laugh. Anna? There's something wrong with that, some reason he didn't want to talk to her, but John can't think about that right now.


	21. More Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter deals with a few triggering themes including sexual assault

It's a terrible time for a...flashback, or whatever Dorian is experiencing but all the same it happens.

* * *

_"I think I love you." Says the man next to her. "Lets get out of here. Lets run away together." _

_She says nothing. _

_He shakes her shoulders "Come on. Fuck this place. I love you. I know you love me too." He is wrong. She wants, very much, to push him away from her, to tear his hands off of her body. _

_She stares at him blankly. _

* * *

_A four year old boy holds out his hand for a fist-bump and he returns the gesture. _

_"Hell yeah, Turner!" the boy says. _

* * *

_"He's very sick." Mom's voice is shaky. Her eyes are red. She's been crying. "We're trying to get him treatment. Please.We need to get him to treatment as soon as possible." _

_"Why can't you treat him here?" Asks the soldier. The soldier is wearing a mask and holding a big gun. _

_"We don't have the money." _

_"Are you a stormtrooper? Like in Star Wars?" He asks hopefully. It hurts to ask. His throat aches. Everything hurts. _

_The soldier looks down at him, backing away. "Just like Star Wars." _

_"Cool." _

_Mom looks like she's going to cry. He wants to hug her but it hurts too much to move right now. _

_The soldier strides out of the room._


	22. When John Wakes Up In The Hospital

John wakes up with a jolt. 

"Anna?!" But Anna isn't here. He's in a hospital room. Dorian is sitting next to him. 

"It's okay. We made it. You're gonna be okay." 

"Anna! Anna was here!" 

"She was there? At the raid?"

"I dunno. Maybe. I...she was smiling at me." John grasps for something more solid.

"You passed out John. Anna wasn't there, or if she was we didn't see her." 

"Shit. Where's Val?" 

"Nobody's seen her. We're still searching." 

"No." John says. "No." 

"She's strong. She might still be alive." 

"Meaning you don't know shit."

"Meaning-"

"Shut up." John turns away from Dorian. It takes more effort to move than he wants to admit. "I don't need your bullshit." 

"Alright. Get some rest, man." Dorian says. John doesn't look back at the door until Dorian's footsteps have faded. 


	23. Cop Killer

The building is still being rebuilt, and until the construction is done, everyone is stuck sharing space with another precinct. 

"Hey, you!" Sandra rarely addresses MXs directly. "913"

"Yes, Captain?" It's tone is polite and deferential and blank. 

"Reports say you were ordered to evacuate Kennex but you didn't. Even though your path was clear. Explain this." 

913 surveys the room before responding. John knows it's in his head but the thing looks fucking cocky. It doesn't even have the decency to look Sandra in the eye when it says "Others had a higher statistical chance of survival. I had to help them." It's looking at Dorian. "I-" Whatever it's next excuse was going to be, John never hears it. He blows its face off and it falls back on the ground, nothing but a twitching pile of broken metal. 

The air is still ringing from the shot, so John can't really hear what Dorian is saying, but he can see Dorian's anger in the lines of his face. He can feel it, distantly, when Dorian shoulder checks him, while storming away. 

Sandra doesn't look particularly impressed either. 

Valerie is just staring at the broken MX, expressionless and unmoving. 

Great. So now John is the fucking asshole. This hunk of metal left him and _Dorian_ to die, but he's the asshole for not being happy about it. John can't stand the people he works with sometimes. 


End file.
